Climate Self-Help

[ Note to new and returning readers:
Thanks for reading this reactivated blog exploring why choosing personal climate actions is hard. I’ve taken a year off from posting to create some hands on-tools for individuals to choose climate actions that fit their personal situations and lifestyles. More on that in posts to come.]

Experts

I’ve been a lifelong consumer of self-help books. With my luck of pretty good teachers in school, I grew to expect that there are always people already experienced with my latest new interests. I tried out the steps of Kondo’s tidying up and filled out worksheets from 7 Habits of Effective People, both good best-selling advice from the “experts”.

Coping Models

As a psychotherapist and coach though, I learned that we also need “coping models” of how regular people (not the experts) bumble into solutions. Examples of how a certain amount of chaos and wandering about might be part of the journey were reassuring. I needed more of those (Phoebe from TV’s Friends) and less of models who seemed to sashay into perfect, and well-groomed, solutions (Ah, Rachel).

Conflicting Advice

As I wandered about in the world of climate change, it took a while to realize that I couldn’t find the self-help guide I wanted to help me settle on what contribution I could make. I began to experiment with small strategies for keeping track of ideas but I kept getting lost in the global news. The ways that others were helping varied widely but were in direct conflict with each other, confusing me. For example:

Should we plant more palm oil trees to increase our carbon sink even though they replace native ecosystems? 

Is wind-generated energy worth it however it disrupts the world of birds?

When you don’t have time to research the facts, it’s easy to just shut down your attention to climate in general.

““We don’t all of us need to have the same opinions, but we do need to be taking part in the same conversation.”
~ Kazuo Ishiguro”

I’m sure you can spot other conflicting opinions and advice in the media news. Please share any expert advice you’ve found confusing in the comment sections below. Also any strategies of self-help that led to climate action choices will be appreciated by others. I encourage you to share gently to help us all talk more openly in this online space.

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